Radio telecommunications system and method of operating the same with polling

ABSTRACT

An apparatus or method for transmitting data blocks on a communications channel having a radio link between two stations including a user equipment comprises receiving first data blocks from the user equipment, and transmitting second data blocks to the user equipment. A polling interval is dynamically set for the transmission of polling messages to the user equipment after transmission of the second data blocks, the polling interval being set in accordance with at least one of: a size of one or more data blocks received by the apparatus from the user equipment, a size of one or more blocks transmitted from the apparatus to the user equipment, and a service to which the user equipment is subscribed. The apparatus may be used as a PCU in a cellular mobile telephone system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/810,507 filed Mar. 26, 2004,which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The present invention relates to wireless telecommunication networks,especially cellular wireless telecommunications networks as well assatellite systems, wireless Local Area Networks (LAN) and MetropolitanArea Networks (MAN) and network elements for use therewith. It isparticularly relevant to such telecommunication systems which have beenoptimized for packet data transmission.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Traditionally, radio telecommunication systems have been designed almostexclusively for voice or for packet data. There have been severalattempts to design systems to provide both data and voice in the samesystem. One such proposal is the ETSI General Packet Radio Service(GPRS) which is designed for packet data transfer and is an overlaynetwork on the circuit switched GSM system which is designed for speechcommunication. A GPRS architecture proposed by ETSI in TechnicalSpecification 3.6 is shown in FIG. 1. Shown mainly on the left of thediagram is a conventional GSM mobile telephone system for full duplexvoice communications comprising a Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) a BaseStation System (BSS) usually including a Base Station Controller (BSC)and a Base Transceiver Station (FITS), and a mobile terminal (MT) and aHome Location Register (HLR). Packet data services are limited to theShort Message Service (SMS) which is dealt with by an SMS Gateway MobileSwitching Centre (SMS-GMSC) and a Short Message Service Centre (SM-SC).Fax is dealt with as in an ordinary telephone system, e.g. via suitablemodems and an Interworking Function (IWF) fax data is transmitted viacircuit switching. Hence, conventional mobile telecommunications systemsgenerally use what may be described as circuit switched datatransmissions. GPRS adds two new nodes to such a system, namely theServing GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and the Gateway GPRS Support node(GGSN), both of which may be seen as routers. The SGSN contains theidentity of MT in its routing tables which are inserted when the MTregisters with the network. The GGSN is connected to other data carryingnetworks, for example a Packet Data network (PDN), for the receipt andtransmission of packets of data. As the GPRS system is in parallel tothe GSM system information about change of location of the MT is alsosent to the SGSN/GGSN.

The above hybrid system may be adapted to a Third Generation MobileTelephone system such as the UNITS system as shown schematically in FIG.2. Further details of such an implementation may be found in the book byOjanperá and Prasad, “Wideband CDMA for Third Generation MobileCommunications”, Artech House Publishers, 1998. Basically, the RadioAccess Network (RAN) provides the network-side equipment forcommunicating with the MT. A GPRS SGSN and a UMTS MSC are provided inparallel between the RAN and the relevant network, i.e. or a PDN or aPublic Service Telephone Network (PSTN), respectively.

For multimedia and especially highly interactive wireless applicationsthere can be a wide variation in the amount of data to be sent in onedirection as well as in the rate at which replies to the data areexpected. Further, there is a general interest in providing services atdifference priorities and at different prices. Thus, the GPRS standardsprovide, especially in ETSI standard 3GPP TS 08.18 (e.g. V8.10.0(2002-05)), possibilities to dynamically adjust the Quality of Service(QoS) for data transmitted over the air interface.

GPRS provides a connectionless support for data transmission. However,in order to use the scarce resources on the radio air interface betweenthe BTS and the MT, a circuit switched radio resource allocation isused. Thus, although the networks attached to the GGSN may operate in acompletely connectionless way, the transmission of the data packetsacross the air interface makes use of conventional timeslot and framemanagement. Accordingly, at some position in the GPRS network a packethandler is required which prepares the packets for transmission inframes across the air interface and receives the frames from the airinterface and prepares them for transmission to the data network. Thisunit may be called a Packet Control Unit (PCU) and may be placed atseveral alternative positions, e.g. in the Base Transceiver Station(BTS), in the Base Station Controller (BSC) or between the BSC and theSGSN. Generally, the PCU may be assigned to some part of the BSS—thebase station system. Typically frame relay will be used between the PCUand the SGSN.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in order to access GPRS services, a userequipment (UE) such as a mobile terminal (MT) or mobile phone firstperforms a GPRS attachment. This operation establishes a logical linkbetween the UE and the SGSN, and makes the UE, available for SMS (ShortMessage Services) over GPRS, paging via SGSN, and notification ofincoming GPRS data. Also the authentication of the user is carried outby the SGSN in the GPRS attachment procedure. In order to send andreceive GPRS data, the UE activates the packet data address wanted to beused, by requesting a PDP activation procedure (Packet Data Protocol).This operation makes the UE known in the corresponding GGSN, andinterworking with external data networks can commence. Moreparticularly, a PDP context is created in the UE, the GGSN and the SGSN.The packet data protocol context defines different data transmissionparameters, such as the PDP type (e.g. X.25 or IP), the PDP address(e.g., X.121 address), the quality of service (QoS) and the NSAPI(Network Service Access Point Identifier). The UE activates the PDPcontext with a specific message comprising the TLLI (Temporary logiclink Identity), an Activate PDP Context Request, in which it givesinformation on the PDP type, the PPP address, the required QoS and theNSAPI, and optionally the access point name (APN). The SGSN provides theTLLI which identifies the UE.

The setting up of circuit switched calls across the air interface in aGPRS network is shown in message flows in FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIG. 3 adata request is initiated by a mobile terminal (MT) using an accesscontrol channel, e.g. a Random Access Channel RACH. When a MT has somedata to send it makes an Uplink Radio. Connection Establishment Requestspecifying how much data is to be sent. The RAN replies with aconfirmation message that the uplink radio link is provided and givesdetails of when and how the MT is to transmit, e.g. which timeslot andhow much of the timeslot can be used. Then the data is transmitted bythe MT on a traffic channel and the RAN disconnects the radio link afterall data has been transmitted successfully. The data received by the RANis forwarded to the SGSN and from there to the GGSN which removes anyheaders used for transporting the data up to this point and transfersthe data to the relevant PDN, e.g. via the Internet to a remote server.As some time later the answer to the data arrives from the remote site,e.g. a service provider's server on the Internet. On receipt of thisanswer a downlink radio connection is set up by the RAN via a controlchannel and the answer data transferred via a traffic channel. Aftertransfer the radio connection is released once again.

FIG. 4 shows a similar message scheme when the initiating message isdownlink. Again, the downlink and uplink transfers are not coupled sothat the downlink radio connection is released at the end of thedownlink transmission and before the answering uplink transmission.

Data transmission over an air interface is subject to errors. For somepacket data transmissions some guarantee of the received data isrequired. Traditionally this has been achieved by an automatic repeatrequest (ARQ) protocol in which ACK (accepted) and NACK (not accepted)messages returned depending on whether a received block of data wascorrectly received or not. Either the failure to receive an ACK messagewithin a predetermined time or the receipt of a NACK message triggersresending of the data. A known problem with, such as scheme is settingan optimum time interval for receipt of an ACK message before the datais resent. Too short a time can result in data being resent frequentlywhen an ACK message is still going to be received and would have stoppedthe resend Too long a time can result in use of large buffers toaccommodate data until the status of this data is clarified. U.S. Pat.No. 6,289,224 proposes a scheme in which the length of time for anoutbound communication is determined and this is transmitted to thetransmitting device so that the timer can be started. This knowntechnique relies on the fact that the type of data to be sent issensibly constant. However, in the type of applications mentioned abovethe data rates and answer frequencies can be very varied and the knownscheme is not optimal in all circumstances.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a data carryingcellular mobile radio telecommunications system and a method ofoperating the same which provides an improved QoS.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for a datacarrying cellular mobile radio telecommunications system and a method ofoperating the same) which provides an improved QoS.

The present invention provides an apparatus for transmitting data blockson a communications channel having a radio link between two stationsincluding a user equipment, comprising.

means for receiving first data blocks from the user equipment;means for transmitting second data blocks to the user equipment; andmeans for dynamically setting a polling interval for the transmission ofpolling messages to the user equipment after transmission of the seconddata blocks, the polling interval being set in accordance with at leastone of: a size of one or more data blocks received by the apparatus fromthe user equipment, a size of one or more blocks transmitted from theapparatus to the user equipment, and a service, to which the userequipment is subscribed.

The means for dynamically setting a pulling interval may be adapted toset the polling interval for each user equipment independently or for agroup of user equipments. The group of user equipments may be defined bya subscription to a service. The user equipment may comprise one or moreuser equipments having a first priority and one or more user equipmentshaving a second priority lower than the first priority, and the meansfor dynamically setting a polling interval may be adapted to reduce thepolling interval when the user equipments having a first priority arenot transmitting.

The apparatus may comprise a buffer means fat buffering data blocks tobe transmitted to the UE by the apparatus. The means for dynamicallysetting a polling interval may be adapted to set the polling interval inaccordance with an occupancy state of the buffer means.

The user equipment may be located in a radio coverage area of a cellularmobile radio network and the means for dynamically setting a pollinginterval may be adapted to set the polling interval in accordance withat least an estimated used transmission capacity value for the radiocoverage area.

The means for dynamically setting a polling interval may include astorage unit for storing information relating to user equipments. Thestorage unit may include data relating to any of a user equipmentidentifier, a quality of service profile associated with a userequipment, a number of user equipments located within a geographicalarea. The means for dynamically setting a polling interval may beadapted to set the polling interval in accordance with a qualityparameter of signals received over the radio link.

The above apparatus may be part of a cellular radio telecommunicationnetwork comprising one or more base stations in communication with oneor more user equipments. The apparatus may be a packet control unitwhich has a first input for data from an asynchronous interface and asecond input for data from a synchronous interface.

The present invention provides a method for transmitting data blocksover a communications channel including a radio link between twostations to and from a user equipment, comprising

receiving first data blocks from the user equipment;transmitting second data blocks to the user equipment; anddynamically setting a polling interval for the transmission of pollingmessages to the use equipment after transmission of the second datablocks, the polling interval being set in accordance with at least oneof: a size of one or more data blocks received by the apparatus from theuser equipment, a size of one or more blocks transmitted from theapparatus to the user equipment, and a service to which the userequipment is subscribed.

The method may include setting the polling interval for each userequipment independently or for a group of user equipments. One or moreuser equipments may have a first priority and one or more userequipments may have a second priority lower than the first priority, anddynamically setting a polling interval may comprise reducing, thepolling interval when the user equipments having a first priority arenot transmitting. The user equipment may be located in a radio coveragearea of a cellular mobile radio network and dynamically setting apolling interval may comprise setting the polling interval in accordancewith at least an estimated used transmission capacity value for theradio coverage area.

The present invention will now be described with reference to thefollowing drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams of a mobile telephone network towhich the present invention may be applied.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are conventional message flows for transmitting datablocks across an air interface between a user equipment a RAN and a datanetwork.

FIG. 5 is a detail of a mobile telephone network with packet datatransmission capacity with which the present invention can be used.

FIG. 6 is a conventional protocol stack which can be used with thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of a PCU with which the presentinvention can be used.

FIG. 8 is a PCU in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a message flow of data blocks across an air interface forillustrating the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described with respect to particularembodiments and with reference to certain drawings but the invention isnot limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described areonly schematic and are non-limiting. The drawings are not drawn toscale.

Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in thedescription and in the claims, are used for distinguishing betweensimilar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequential orchronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used areinterchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodimentsof the invention described herein are capable of operation in othersequences than described or illustrated herein.

It is to be noticed that the term “comprising”, used in the claims,should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listedthereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. Thus, the scopeof the expression “a device comprising means A and B” should not belimited to devices consisting only of components A and B. It means thatwith respect to the present invention, the only relevant components ofthe device are A and B.

In particular the present invention will mainly be described withreference to cellular mobile telephone systems but the present inventionis not limited thereto. For instance, the present invention may beadvantageously used in wireless local area networks (LAN) orMetropolitan Access Networks particularly when there is an asymmetricalflow of data. Various types of wireless LAN have been standardized orare in general use, e.g. the standards IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.11HR(Spread Spectrum) and systems based on DECT, BlueTooth, HIPERLAN,Diffuse or point-to-point infrared. Wireless LAN's are discussed indetail in “Wireless LAN's” by Jim Geier, Macmillan Technical Publishing,1999. Further, the present invention will mainly be described withreference to a TDMA system such as GSM or GPRS but the present inventionis not limited thereto. The sharing of a data channel by multiple userterminals may include for instance sharing a code in a CDMA system orsharing a frequency in a Frequency Division Multiple Access system.Examples of wireless communication networks with support for packet datatransfer to the wireless terminal of a mobile user are PDC-P networks(Pacific Digital Cellular), which in Japan provides the existing modeservice, GSM networks (Global System for Mobile Communications)providing GPRS services (General Packet Radio Service, particularly inEurope and systems using radio networks based on EDGE technology(Enhanced Data Rates for GSM and TDMA/136 Evolution). Further, thepresent invention will mainly be described with respect to a cellularmobile telephone system but the present invention may find advantageoususe in a Public Mobile Radio (PMR) system.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 each base station 20 is supervised by abase station controller 21 or BSC by way of an interface called Abis. Inorder to manage the transmission of GPRS packets, the BSS furthercomprises a packet control unit or PCU 22. The present invention doesnot require the location of the PCU 22 to be within the BSS. The presentinvention is generally applicable whether the data source consisting ofthe PCU 22 is remote from the sending stations consisting of the BTS's20 or not. The BTU 20 can communicate with one or more user equipmentsUE 10. The UE 10 may be any suitable communicating device whether mobileor stationary, e.g. a mobile phone, a laptop, a Personal Data Assistant(PDA), a pocket PC, a palmtop, a desktop computer, etc. In the examplerepresented in FIG. 5, the PCU 22 is situated between the BSC 21, withwhich it communicates via an interface called AGPRS, and the SGSN 5,with which it communicates via the interface Gb. The SGSN 5 is linked tothe BSS by way of an interface called Gb, and the GGSN serves as agateway with external packer transmission networks (PDN), such as theInternet, for example.

The Gb interface is of asynchronous type. A protocol stack is shown inFIG. 6. It is typically based on the frame relay (FR) protocol, as wellas on a protocol called BSSGP (BSS GPRS Protocol) which transportsmuting and quality-of-service information between the BSS and the SGSN.A Gb interface controller provides the physical link with the SGSN, aswell as carrying out the procedures specific to the FR and BSSGPprotocols.

A schematic PCT 22 is shown in FIG. 7. The links between the PCU 22 andthe BTSs 20 via the AGPRS interface are of synchronous type and hencepackets arriving from the asynchronous Gb interface need to be queuedConsequently, a buffer 41 is provided to manage packet queues and AGPRSand Gb interface controllers 24, 40, respectively to control packetflow. A module 46 of the AGPRS interface controller 24 implements theradio protocols of layer 2 of the OSI model, that is to say the RLC/MAC(Radio Link Control/Medium Access Control—see FIG. 6) protocolsdescribed in the European Standard ETSI EN 301 349, “Digital cellulartelecommunications system (Phase 2+); General Packet Radio Service(GPRS); Mobile Station (MS)—Base Station System (BSS) interface; RadioLink Control/Medium Access Control (RLC/MAC) protocol (GSM 04.60,version 8.3.1, Release 1999)”, published by ETSI in October 2000.

The RLC sublayer forms the interface with the upper-layer protocol,called LLC (Logical Link Control). It carries out the segmentation andthe reassembling of LLC protocol data units (LLC-PDUs), which areexchanged asynchronously on the Gb interface. It produces RLC datablocks to which the MAC sublayer adds a one-byte MAC header.

in the downlink direction, from the PCU 22 to the UE's 10, the MACheader of each RLC/MAC block includes:

a) a three-bit USF (Uplink State Flag) field, serving to indicate whichUE 10 is authorized to use an uplink resource corresponding to thedownlink resource on which the RLC/MAC block is transmitted;b) a three-bit acknowledgement control field, including a one-bit S/P(Supplementary/Polling) subfield indicating whether theacknowledgement-control field is active (S/P=1) or inactive (S/P=0) anda two-bit RRBP (Relative Reserved Block Period) subfield uniquelyspecifying an uplink block in which the UE 10 which is addressed shouldtransmit an acknowledgement message;c) a two-bit Payload Type field, specifying the type of RLC blockfollowing (data, control, etc).

Each RLC block includes an RLC header following the MAC header byte.This RLC header especially includes the following information:

a) a Temporary flow identity (TFI), consisting of five bits identifyingthe temporary block flow (TBF), from which the RLC data of the blockoriginate. A TBF is a connection supporting the unidirectional LLC-PDUtransfer on physical data channels A TBF is temporary, that is to saythat it is maintained only during a time of data transfer;b) a block sequence, number BSN which relates to a sequence number orthe RLC/MAC block in the TBF.

The MAC sublayer manages the multiplexing of the blocks arising from thevarious TBFs which are active on the available physical channels,arbitrating among the various UE's 10 via a planning mechanism.

A corresponding RLC/MAC entity of a UE 10, which is the addressee of thedownlink data blocks of a TBF, keeps a reception-state variable V(R)up-to-date for this flow, which indicates the BSN following the highestBSN received on this TBF. The number V(R) thus points to the end of areception window, the length of which is WS RLC/MAC blocks. Upon receiptof a polling command from the transmission controller 53, i.e. a blockwhose MAC header has the S/P bit equal to 1, the UE 10 returns, in theuplink blocks specified by the RRBP subfield, a PDAN (Packet DownlinkAck/Nack) acknowledgement message which in particular includes:

a) an SSN (Starting Sequence Number) field of SNS bits containing thecurrent variable V(R) for the TBF; andb) an RBB (Receive Block Bitmap) field representing a bitmap of WS bitsindicating those blocks of the reception window which have beencorrectly received.A positive acknowledgement of a block is indicated by the value 1 of therelevant part of the bitmap represented by RRB, and a negativeacknowledgement by the value 0.

Upon receipt of the PDAN message, a module 55 of the PCU 22 updates (seeFIG. 8), for the TBF, an acknowledgement-state variable V(A) whichcontains the BSN of the oldest block which has not been positivelyacknowledged, as well as a table V(B) with WS entries indicating theacknowledgement states of WS consecutive blocks respectively from thatdesignated by V(A), these WS consecutive blocks forming a transmissionwindow. The possible acknowledgement states are: positiveacknowledgement (ACK); negative acknowledgement (NACK), andacknowledgement not yet received (ACK_PENDING). The state variables V(A)and V(B) are deduced directly from the SSN and RBB fields received inthe last PDAN message. The RLC/MAC protocol allows blocks to betransmitted only within the transmission window thus managed by the PCU22. Outside this window, transmission of the blocks is inhibited.

In the case of GPRS, the standard specifies the values SNS=7, WS=64, Avariable level of protection an be selected block by block within a TBF,by the choice of a coding scheme (CS) from among four schemes CS-1 toCS-4 specified in the European Standard ETSI EN 300 909, Digitalcellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Channel coding (GSM05.03, version 8.5.1, Release 1999), published by ETSI in November 2000.

Scheme CS-4 does not use any error-correction coding, i.e. the codingrate is equal to 1: only a block check sequence BCS is appended to thedata blocks, Schemes CS-1 to CS-3 use a convolutional code of rate ½after the addition of the BCS sequence. No puncturing is carried out inthe CS-1 scheme (which offers the highest level of protection), whilepuncturing is applied in the CS-2 and CS-3 schemes so that they giverise to overall coding rates of about ⅔ and of about ¾, respectively.

Each coded RLC/MAC block is transmitted in corresponding timeslots offour TDMA (Time-Division Multiple Access) frames on a carrier frequency,the successive TDMA frames each being broken down into eight timeslotsto provide for time-division channel multiplexing.

A pattern of eight signaling bits SB is inserted into each coded frame(two bits per timeslot) so as to indicate in particular which codingscheme has been applied by the transmitter.

These signaling bits are extracted from the coded block received by theaddressee, to allow it to identify the coding scheme. The receiver thencarries out the appropriate decoding of the block which will give rise,to a positive acknowledgement if it is successful and if the decoded BCSis consistent with the content of the block.

The coding scheme applied to the downlink is determined in a way inwhich is known in itself by the PCU 22 on the basis of measurements ofreception quality on the radio link, according to link adaptationmechanisms which seek to achieve an target in terms of rate oferror-affected blocks so as to optimize the raw throughput. The selectedscheme is inserted into the TRAU frame carrying the block so as to beapplied by the BTS 20.

The above-mentioned ETSI standards also specify an extension of the GPRSsystem, using EDGE (Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution) modulation. Thisextension is called EGPRS (EDGE-GPRS). In a EGPRS system, the RLC/MAClayer uses SNS=11, and WS adjustable between 64 and 1024. The RLC andMAC headers are grouped together into a single RLC/MAC header which nolonger has the “Payload Type” field and in which the S/P it is replacedby a two-bit ES/P subfield making it possible to specify differentacknowledgement formats when polling.

Nine modulation and coding schemes, called MCS-1 MCS-9 are provided. Thescheme used for a given block, as well as any puncturing scheme beingapplied, are indicated in a CPS (Coding and Puncturing Scheme indicatoryfield of the EGPRS RLC/MAC header.

The whole of the EGPRS RLC/MAC header is the subject of channel codingseparate from that of the data of the block. The level of protection ofthis header against transmission errors is higher than that of the data,in order to ensure greater robustness of the signaling information.However, the present invention is not limited to highly protected headerinformation.

FIG. 8 illustrates one possible organization of the RLC/MAC entity ofthe PCU 22 for a downlink TBF. The data of the LLC-PDU, which aresegmented into RLC/MAC blocks, are kept in the buffer memory 41 untilthese blocks have been positively acknowledged. The transmissioncontroller 53 has means to carry out each one of the followingfunctions:

a) means to select a TBF for each transmission period on the channel, bymeans of a known scheduling mechanism;b) for the selected TBF, means to select an RLC/MAC, block to betransmitted, especially on the basis of the state variables V(A) andV(R) and of the presence or absence of a new block in the queue relatingto the TBF in the transmission buffer 41;c) means to select the coding schemes CS-i which the BTS 20 will applyto the block, and allocation of the corresponding value to the eight-bitsignaling pattern SB. If the ARQ mechanism has led to selection of ablock which has already been transmitted previously, the coding schemeadopted may be the same (GPRS case) or a more robust scheme (option incase of EGPRS). If the selected block is a new block, the coding schemeis determined by a conventional link adaptation mechanism,d) if the selected block is a new block, means to extract a number ofbits of information from the buffer 41, this number corresponding to thesize defined for the coding scheme adopted; if not, new extraction ofthe data from the previously transmitted block;e) means to determine the content of the RLC/MAC header and control ofthe insertion of this header by a module 54. The transmission controller53 sets the TFI and BSN fields as well as the S/P-RRBP acknowledgementcontrol field to poll the MS for acknowledgment.

The RLC/MAC block delivered by the module and the SB bits form part ofthe information placed in a TRAU frame transmitted to the BTS involved.

The module 55 represented in FIG. 8 handles the PDAN messages receivedfrom, the addressee UE to update the state variables V(A) and V(B) ofthe TBF. The blocks of the TBF which were transmitted by the PCU 22after the polling block to which a PDAN message responds remain in theACK_PENDING state, while the other blocks which have been transmitted upto this polling block are set to the ACK or NACK state depending on thevalue of the corresponding bit of the RBB bitmap (in EGPRS, this RBBbitmap can be transmitted in compressed form, and then has to be decodedcorrespondingly by the module).

The present invention relates to the operation of the transmissioncontroller 53, in conventional systems the transmission controller 53polls a UE during a TBF at fixed intervals. In accordance withembodiments of the present invention the transmission controller 53 canselect a variable length polling interval for each UE 10. The selectionmay be for all UE's a group of UE's, especially a group of UE's whichsubscribe to a certain service/QoS profile, or on a UE-by-UE basis. Inaccordance with another aspect of the present invention the transmissioncontroller 53 has means for polling interval selection that depends uponQoS requirements of the network. In particular, the selection of pollinginterval may depend upon factors which favor a shorter polling intervaland/or factors which favor a longer polling interval.

Table 1 is derived from the book “Principes de Radiocommunication deTroisième Generation”, Lucidarme, Vuibert, 2002, section 2.6.4 andprovides various QoS parameters which can be dynamically adjusted inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

TABLE 1 Class of service QoS parameters Priority 1, 2, 3 (1 is thehighest) Reliability 1-5 (5 is the most reliable) Transmission delay 1-4(1 is the most rapid) Maximum Data Rate allowed 1-9 (9 is the highestrate) Average Data Rate expected 1-18, (18 is the highest average rate)Examples of factors which can favor a shorter polling interval may beselected from at least one of

-   1) Messages sent and received by a UE 10 communicated over a certain    time period are short. This is an indication of an interactive    application, e.g. can occur when a game is being played using SMS.    In this case, the UE 10 may wait an excessively long time on average    before receiving an answer if the polling interval is not reduced.-   2) When the reception is poor and/or when the coding scheme used for    the headers and/or the blocks is not well protected. In this case a    large number of repeat requests can be expected so that a UE 10 will    be in a position to request a resend of a block very often.-   3) Time of day or geographical location of the relevant cell. Time    of day (peak hours, evening, night) and geographical location    (rural, city center) may also be suitable parameters to determine    polling interval.-   4) When the length of the TBF is selected to be short as part of an    optimization scheme. The longer the TBF, the more bandwidth is    available for other traffic. However, a short TBF may be appropriate    when there is a long wait for answers, e.g. when browsing and the    Internet access is slow.-   5) When buffering at the PCU 22 is reaching capacity. When a large    number of blocks are being buffered at a PCU 22 an attempt can be    made to reduce this by polling at a higher rate. In this way, as    soon as a UE 10 is ready to acknowledge blocks and thus free them    from the buffer, a polling command is sent.    Examples of factors which can favor not shortening the polling    interval may be selected from at least one of:-   1. Messages sent and received by a UE 10 over a time period are long    and the reception is good. This can occur when sending large files.    In this case, it is inefficient to poll when nothing is to be    resent.-   2. The cell is congested. In case of high traffic, lengthening the    polling interval reduces the number of control messages and    therefore increases traffic capacity. This can also be used to    discourage non-vital activities such as games at peak hours by    deliberately slowing down responses-   3. Some UE's 10 have a high priority rating while some UE's 10 have    a low priority and require short polling intervals. The priority    rating is obtainable by the PCU 22 from an information element as    indicated in table 1 above. In this case high polling rates may    reduce the bandwidth for high priority users. In this case a better    service can be provided for the high priority users by not    shortening the polling interval.-   4. Time of day or geographical location of the relevant cell. Time    of day (peak hours, evening, night) and geographical location    (rural, city center) may also be suitable parameters to determine    polling interval.    In accordance with embodiments of the present invention the PCU 22    comprises means to determine whether a UE or group of UE's or all or    none of the UE's are polled by one of at least two polling    intervals. In the following various methods of determining which    UE's should have shorter or longer polling intervals will be    described.

Across the Gb interface signals for many UE's are multiplexed. The SGSNcommunicates with the BSS using PDU's. A PDU may contain a reference tothe UE by means of the TLLI and/or the IMSI. In addition it may containpriority information, QoS profile information, a cell identifier toidentify with which radio cell a UE is communicating, a location area inwhich a UE is registered, the location area normally being larger thanone cell, and/or a routing area which is similar to a location area butspecifically related to data traffic, e.g. via GPRS services. Thus,being examining these PDU's a PCU 22 and in particular the transmissioncontroller 53 can extract and store QoS relevant information, e.g.information linking UE identifiers (IMSI and/or TLLI), a geographicalarea in which a UE, is located (cell, routing area or location area) aswell as QoS information (QoS profile, priority, etc.). This informationmay be stored in a suitable memory, e.g. storage unit 56 with which thetransmission controller is in communication. For instance, the storageunit 56 may store a table comprising the QoS relevant informationdescribed above. This table is a record of potential activity.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention the transmissioncontroller 53 accesses the storage unit 56 and calculates relevantstatistics in order to decide on whether a shorter polling time is to beinitiated. The relevant statistics may include the number of active UE'sassociated with a certain geographical area and a QoS profile. Forexample, the operational congestion of a geographical area may beestimated in the following way, for each of N QoS profiles Q1, . . . ,QN, a bandwidth B¹ 1, . . . , B¹N is determined for the expected usageof the air interface for a UE which subscribes to the relevant QoSprofile and for a first polling interval as well as a number of UE's N1,. . . , NN for each QoS profile. The relevant bandwidth B may bedetermined, for instance, as a guaranteed bandwidth for the relevantsubscription or as a statistical average of actually used bandwidth. Forone or more QoS profiles a second polling interval, e.g. a shorterpolling interval may be selected by the transmission controller 53. Thissecond interval will result in a different bandwidth for each QoS, thatis bandwidths B² 1, . . . , B²N. From the Assuming by way of exampleonly that one QoS profile has a second bandwidth B² and that the totalavailable bandwidth in a geographical area is B_(TOTAL) then inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention the transmissioncontroller calculates the relationship between the expected bandwidthand the total available bandwidth. For example, the decision to allow ashorter polling interval for the QoS profile QM may be determinedprovided:

ΣN ₁ ×B ¹1+N2×B ¹2, . . . , +NM×B ² M+ . . . +NN×B ¹ N≦k ₁ ×B_(TOTAL)  Eq. 1

where k₁ is a constant which may be 1 or any other number. By remainingwithin the equality represented by Eq. 1, there is some safeguard thatbandwidth requirements will not be exceeded for the relevantgeographical area. By varying the value of k₁, the security can beincreased or decreased.

In accordance with a further embodiment the number of UE's of one QoSprofile which can be allowed a shorter polling interval can becalculated in accordance with Eq. 2:

$\begin{matrix}\frac{k_{2}{B_{TOTAL} \cdot \begin{pmatrix}{{\sum{N\; 1 \times B^{1}1}} + {N\; 2 \times B^{1}2\mspace{14mu} \ldots} +} \\{{{NM} \times B^{1}M} + \ldots + {{NN} \times B^{1}N}}\end{pmatrix}}}{{B^{2}M} - {B^{1}M}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

Where k₂ is a number such as k₁.Eq, 2 calculates the difference between B_(TOTAL) (optionally multipliedby a factor k₂) and the estimated bandwidth for the current active UE's.This difference represents the available bandwidth which may be used upfor shorter polling intervals. By dividing this bandwidth by thedifference between the bandwidth for UE's with the Mth QoS profile whenthere is short and normal polling intervals; the number of UE's whichmay be changed from normal polling to shorter polling can be determined.

The skilled person will appreciate that Eq.s 1 and 2 can be modified toallow more than one set of UE's to have shorter polling intervals. Thepresent invention also includes within its scope other algorithms fordetermining whether shorter polling should be allowed. For example,simply the percentage of UE's having a specific QoS profile may be usedas a decision criterion. The make this decision the transmissioncontroller 53 may include a decision circuit.

A more detailed scheme for carrying out the above embodiment is shown inFIG. 9. The message flows are between the UE 10 and the PCU 22 andbetween the PCU 22 and the SGSN 5. FIG. 9 shows the case of a UEinitiated request for data transfer. Initially the UE 10 receives a GETinformation command (e.g. from a laptop running a browser) and makes arequest for data transfer on a control channel. This control channel maybe a random access channel (RACH) and the request may be transmittedseveral times (in case of contention). This request is assigned by thePCU to a specific traffic channel, i.e. to a timeslot or slats, with animmediate Assignment message. The UE 10 responds with a Packet ResourceRequest (PRR). The PCU 22 responds with a Packet Uplink Assignmentmessage (PUAS) which contains the relevant TFI as well as the exact timewhen the transmission must take place. The UE 10 responds with a PackerControl Acknowledgement message (PCA). The UE 10 now transmits the datablocks required in a traffic channel using the timeslot specified at theappropriate nine. In this case it is 11 blocks which BSN 0-10. To allowtracking of the end of the uplink data transmission, the LIE 10 providesa reference identification, e.g. a “CV” (Countdown Value), which countsdown the last few blocks of the transmission, e.g. the last 15 blocks.

At this point an optional message (PTR) to reconfigure for a downlinktransmission may be sent. This provides the timeslot and TFT for thetransmission and alerts the UE 10 to a coming downlink transmissionwhich saves time in setting this up later. This avoids sending a packetdownlink assignment to the relevant UE using, a control channel.However, the latter method is also within the scope of the presentinvention. The PCU 22, sends a GET information command to the SGSN. i.e.forwards the message just received from the UE 10. After the uplink datahas been received, the PCU 22 determines whether there were any badframes and requests retransmission from the UE of any frames or blocksthat are necessary. Then the uplink connection is released. In thepresent case 9 of the blocks are released with a PUAN message which isflagged with FAI=0, i.e. accepted. The UE can now delete these blocksfrom its buffer. However, the TBF is not terminated as BSN 9 and 10 havenot been accepted. On receipt of the requested data (http OK) from theSGSN 5, the PCU 22 transmits the relevant blocks. In this case blockswith BSN 0-3 with ARQ, blocks with BSN 4-6 and blocks with BSN 8, 9 withARQ. The UE 10 listens for the relevant TFI in the allocated timeslotfor a period of time, e.g. 5 seconds. The UE 10 decodes every block inthe timeslot allocated to it to see if it contains the specified TFI. Ifno reply comes within the predetermined time, the PCU 22 initiatesrelease of the downlink connection and the UE 10 no longer listens onthis timeslot. In tins case the blocks with BSN 0-9 are transmitted. Atthis moment the PCU 22 determines that the 11 blocks transmitted on theuplink were all received correctly and the uplink TBF can be terminated.Accordingly it sends a PUAN message specifying 11 blocks (V(r)=11) withthe flag FAI=1. The UE 10 responds with a PCA message somewhat later.The PCU 22 can then safely stop the TBF. If the PCA is no sent the TBFis tuned out. This terminates the uplink TBF. Having received the 10downlink blocks the UE 10 now transfers these blocks to the browser andawaits a response as to their correctness. In order to keep the downlinkTBF alive the UE 10 can send one or more PUAN messages, e.g. to releasea number of the received blocks (V(r)=8) or a PDAN which does notterminate the TBF. It is during this time that the PCU transmissioncontroller 53 sends polling commands (here shown with BSN=9, S/P=1). Therate at which these commands are sent and the ability to vary this rateis an aspect of the present invention. In particular, any of the methodsof the present invention as detailed above and as claimed in theattached claims may be used to determine the polling interval and/orwhen this should be changed.

In response to the polling commands the UE 10 requests a channel using aPDAN channel request. This is assigned and acknowledged in theconventional manner. Then the UE 10 transmits the ACK information to thePCU, 22. From this point on the procedure repeats itself.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference topreferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes or modifications in form and detail may be madewithout departing from the scope and spirit of this invention.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. Apparatus for transmitting data blocks on acommunications channel having a radio link between the apparatus and atleast one user equipment, comprising: a receiver configured to receivefirst data blocks from the user equipment; a transmitter configured totransmit second data blocks to the user equipment and to transmitpolling messages to the user equipment to request that the userequipment acknowledge receipt of the second data blocks; a transmissioncontroller configured to dynamically set at least one polling intervalfor transmission of the polling messages to the user equipment aftertransmission of the second data blocks.
 22. Apparatus as defined inclaim 21, wherein the transmission controller is configured to set thepolling interval responsive to at least one of: a size of one or moredata blocks received by the apparatus from the user equipment; a size ofone or more data blocks transmitted from the apparatus to the userequipment; and a service to which the user equipment is subscribed. 23.Apparatus as defined in claim 21, wherein the transmission controller isconfigured to set independently polling intervals for each of aplurality of user equipments.
 24. Apparatus as defined in claim 21,wherein the transmission controller is configured to set a commonpolling interval for a group of user equipments.
 25. Apparatus asdefined in claim 24, wherein the group of user equipments is defined bya subscription to a service.
 26. Apparatus as defined in claim 21,wherein the transmission controller is configured to adjust at least onepolling interval responsive to which user equipments are transmittingand which user equipments are not transmitting.
 27. Apparatus as definedin claim 21, further comprising a buffer configured to buffer datablocks to be transmitted to the user equipment by the apparatus. 28.Apparatus as defined in claim 27, wherein the transmission controller isconfigured to set the polling interval responsive to an occupancy stateof the buffer.
 29. Apparatus as defined in claim 21, wherein thetransmission controller is configured to set the polling intervalresponsive to at least an estimated used transmission capacity value fora radio coverage area of a cellular radio network in which the apparatusis located.
 30. Apparatus as defined in claim 21, wherein thetransmission controller comprises data storage configured to storeinformation relating to user equipments.
 31. Apparatus as defined inclaim 30, wherein the data storage wherein the data storage isconfigured to store data relating to any of: a user equipmentidentifier; a quality of service profile associated with a userequipment; and a number of user equipments located within a geographicalarea.
 32. Apparatus as defined in claim 21, wherein the transmissioncontroller is configured to set the polling interval responsive to aparameter characterizing a quality level of signals received over theradio link.
 33. A radio telecommunications network comprising at leastone base station in communication with at least one user equipment, thenetwork comprising an apparatus for transmitting data blocks on acommunications channel having a radio link between the apparatus and atleast one user equipment, the apparatus comprising: a receiverconfigured to receive first data blocks from the user equipment; atransmitter configured to transmit second data blocks to the userequipment and to transmit polling messages to the user equipment torequest that the user equipment acknowledge receipt of the second datablocks; a transmission controller configured to dynamically set at leastone polling interval for transmission of the polling messages to theuser equipment after transmission of the second data blocks.
 34. Theradio telecommunications network defined in claim 33, wherein theapparatus includes a packet control unit having a first input for datafrom an asynchronous interface and a second input for data from asynchronous interface.
 35. A method of transmitting data blocks over acommunications channel having a radio link enabling transmissions to andfrom at least one user equipment, the method comprising: receiving firstdata blocks from the user equipment; transmitting second data blocks tothe user equipment; transmitting polling messages to the user equipmentto request that the user equipment acknowledge receipt of the seconddata blocks; and dynamically setting at least one polling interval fortransmission of the polling messages to the user equipment aftertransmission of the second data blocks.
 36. A method as defined in claim35, comprising setting the polling interval responsive to at least oneof: a size of one or more data blocks received by the apparatus from theuser equipment; a size of one or more data blocks transmitted from theapparatus to the user equipment; and a service to which the userequipment is subscribed.
 37. A method as defined in claim 35, comprisingsetting independently polling intervals for each of a plurality of userequipments.
 38. A method as defined in claim 35, comprising setting acommon polling interval for a group of user equipments.
 39. A method asdefined in claim 35, comprising adjusting at least one polling intervalresponsive to which user equipments are transmitting and which userequipments are not transmitting.
 40. A method as defined in claim 35,comprising setting the polling interval responsive to at least anestimated used transmission capacity value for a radio coverage area ofa cellular radio network.